The border is wide open. DHS Secretary Mayorkas was impeached by the House on Tuesday. Senate Democrats won't hold an impeachment trial for him, though, because Mayorkas is doing what Biden wants him to do. He works for Biden. Mayorkas has no problem carrying out Biden's orders. Impeaching Mayorkas holds him accountable but little else. The only way to secure the border is to replace Biden with a border security hawk Republican president.

Governor Brian Kemp made a splash Tuesday when he announced he would send troops to Texas to help secure the border. He is pledging between 15-20 guardsmen to be deployed to Texas. It will not happen until he submits a formal request to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency by Governor Abbott.

"Every state is a border state." Kemp isn't a border state governor but he is aware of the situation. He is one of many Republican governors who have sent help to Texas during the Biden border crisis and he wanted to declare his continued support.

Kemp is one of the 13 Republican governors who joined Abbott earlier this month for a briefing and press conference at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas. Abbott updated them on Operation Lone Star and the mission to secure the southern border. They also received briefings by Department of Public Safety Deputy Director Freeman Martin, Adjutant General of the Texas National Guard, Major General Thomas Suelzer, and Texas Border Czar Mike Banks.

The governors with Abbott, besides Kemp, included  Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Idaho Governor Brad Little, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Governor Jill Pillen, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, and Utah Governor Spencer Cox. Of the governors, some are more in the news than others with their support of Abbott. In other words, some make public statements or hold a press conference to attract attention to their decision to send troops or equipment to Texas. Others, like Kemp, are mostly quietly supporting Abbott. 

It's interesting that now Kemp seems to be more public in his support. Is it because it is a presidential year and Georgia is an important swing state? The once-red state of Georgia has turned purple, thanks to moves made by Trump, frankly. Maybe Kemp wants to send a message that the state still has statewide Republican leadership. Hopefully Republican voters and independents get out and vote in the November presidential general election. 

The number of troops Kemp committed to send is not a large number. It is the gesture that makes a difference. Democrats claim it's all about politics 

The relatively modest announcement followed two days of sharply partisan debate at the Georgia Capitol in which Kemp and Republican lawmakers repeatedly denounced Democratic President Joe Biden for trouble at the border.

“If the Biden administration continues to fail the American people, we have no choice, no choice but to step in,” Kemp said.

Democrats denounced the moves as election-year grandstanding, especially after Donald Trump and other Republicans torpedoed a border security plan developed in the U.S. Senate by negotiators including Republican U.S. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma. Georgia Senate Democratic Whip Harold Jones II, of Augusta, called the effort “politics for politics’ sake” in a Monday debate.

Kemp agrees with Governor Abbott - if Biden won't secure the southern border, then others have to step up and do it. A country without borders has no sovereignty and is not a country. Is Abbott just supposed to sit back and watch as the invasion overwhelms Border Patrol and other law enforcement along the Texas border? That isn't sustainable. And, it isn't acceptable. Why should Texas bear the burden of Joe Biden's actions? 

Kemp deployed troops to the southern border in 2019. There are 29 guard members still deployed, performing such duties as aerial surveillance. 

“There are a lot of states that are stepping up, a lot of Republican governors that are stepping up to offer assistance, because they, like me, believe we just have to do this,” Kemp said. We have a president that will not act.”

There is a history of conflict between Kemp and Trump. Kemp continues to keep his distance from Trump but he made it clear Tuesday that we must return to Trump's border policies. Both chambers of Georgia's Republican-led Legislature passed resolutions condemning Biden over his handling of the southern border. 

Other Republican governors are taking the opportunity to step up now and publicly declare their support. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced last month that he would send hundreds of guard members. He has sent more than 1,000 guard members, state troopers, and others to the Texas border since last May. He has also sent equipment to Texas to help. He has consistently been the first to step forward and offer assistance for Abbott.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte announced Tuesday that his state’s National Guard will also coordinate with Texas officials and identify volunteers who can respond to requests from help from the Lone Star State. Lawmakers in at least two other GOP-led states, Oklahoma and Tennessee, have introduced resolutions in recent weeks backing calls to send more National Guard troops to support Abbott.

Newly-elected Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry is committing National Guard troops, too. He looks at the deployment as a training opportunity as well as helping a neighboring state.

"This actually serves a purpose and helps Louisiana too because it serves and trains our national guard troops, of which I was one, for readiness and duty and active service, the things they all signed up for," Landry said.

The deployment will happen in March. It is expected to cost Louisiana taxpayers about $3M. Landry is working on how to pay for that expense.

"We have to see whether or not the National Guard has that money in their budget now. We can also use some surplus dollars, because this will be a one-time expense. So we're kind of working through that now, a lot of it depends on when the bill is actually sent. Whenever the National Guard goes down there, you don't pay when you show up. A bill will be sent in the future, so we have to look at when we anticipate receiving that bill, how much money does National Guard have cash on hand, and then work through budget process whether in the special session or regular session to cover the cost," said state Sen. Cameron Henry, Senate president.

Elections matter. We see it with Biden and Mayorkas working to keep the southern border open for the world to walk in. We see it in gubernatorial elections, too. Landry replaces Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards. In May 2018, Edwards approved a request from Abbott to send a Louisiana National Guard aviation team to provide air support to the Border Patrol. By June, a Democrat legislator asked that Edwards bring the support team home until Trump reunited families detained along the border. Edwards is a moderate, pro-life Democrat. Do we think that a typical Democrat governor these days when the party has mostly been taken over by progressives would offer such support? Some are coming around to admitting the border must be closed because they are receiving illegal aliens in their states from Texas but others aren't so willing to admit it. 

As long as progressive Democrats and their puppets, like Biden, are voted into office, nothing will change. Republicans must win big in the November general elections, from local elections, statewide elections, and the presidency. Biden's America is a mess and Republicans need to bring our country back.